A T.O. with T.H.

Because they are the local baseball team, I generally shy away from railing on the Washington Nationals. But other than a disgusting 3-10 start to the 2009 season, the Nats had another malfunction that just made me laugh out loud this week.

April 17 the Nationals lost to the Florida Marlins again. But something was mysteriously and noticeably missing from the jerseys worn by the players.

Somebody had forgotten the O.

So yes, for all of you spelling bee champions out there, the jerseys read “NATINALS.”

It is bad enough that they are the worst team in Major League Baseball, but it is ridiculous that they can’t even spell their own name.

I had to wonder, how did that get past the equipment managers, manager and players? Did none of them realize that Nationals was spelled wrong?

It made me think that it had to be a stunt – I mean, anything to get the attention off of your .231 win percentage.

And how about that stunning team ERA of 5.66? The fact that your star player is Adam Dunn? Sure, 40 homers is good, but how does the 179 strikeout average grab you?

The fact is, this is about as embarrassing as it gets. It reminded me of the generic kids sports movie from the 1990s, where the team stinks at first and their jerseys are a joke, but then they turn it around for a tear-jerking finish.

Unfortunately for Nats fans, this is the major leagues and certainly not a movie.

The jersey screw-up does not take the focus off of the fact you are terrible – it adds to it.

Majestic, the company that makes the jerseys, apologized for the mishap Monday. But I am wondering when the apology will come from the Nationals.

The fact their organization has never been any more than a joke in the win column is bad enough.

When will it click that the Washington baseball experiment is not working again? How about the fact that they can’t even get one of the newest stadium in baseball a quarter of the way filled? Or how about the fact that General Manager Jim Bowden still thinks offense is the only thing you need to win?

This organization needs to step back and realize they are not the new kid on the block anymore. It’s not as cute to lose as it used to be.

Even the Charlotte Bobcats of the NBA or the Minnesota Wild of the NHL have been competitive. Nationals baseball is a joke with a capital J. See? At least one of us knows how to spell.